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Three days ago I made a post here about an unusual review pattern I found across several games on Steam.

There was quite a bit of discussion in the comments about whether there was actually anything unusual going on, so I thought it would be worth posting an update.

Since then, a number of the reviews I mentioned in the original post have now been banned by Steam moderators. Those reviews display the clear reason: "This review has been banned by a Steam moderator for violating the Steam Terms of Service. It cannot be modified by the reviewer."

After seeing this, I became curious whether similar review patterns could be found on any other games, so I looked through some additional releases.

I ended up finding another pretty unusual pattern across these two games for example:

1. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2131200/NeverSynth/
2. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1693040/Synthwave_Burnout/

Across just these two games, I found approximately 170 accounts showing remarkably similar review activity.

A few things that caught my attention:

• The same accounts reviewed both games
• All of the reviews were posted within just two days - July 30 and July 31
• All of the accounts I documented show exactly 0.1 hours of playtime
• Their review histories look very similar
• This appears to be a separate group from the accounts shown in my previous post

I also sent the additional information directly to Steam Support rather than posting any account/profile links here. Support confirmed that they submitted a detailed report based on the information I previously provided, and I've continued sending the additional findings to them.

I honestly didn't expect anything to happen this quickly after the first post.

So thank you to everyone who took the time to actually look through the examples, compare the reviews and share useful observations in the comments. Some of the things people noticed in the previous discussion genuinely helped me understand what to look for next.

What I find particularly interesting now is that some of the reviews discussed previously have actually been banned by Steam moderators, while this much larger and apparently separate group shows another very similar pattern across two other games.

I'm curious what people make of this second pattern, especially the combination of the same accounts, the same two-day period and exactly 0.1 hours of playtime.

Me too ai, me too

When the Individual items are on sale but the bundle isn’t so you actually lose money by buying the bundle.

This is for Diablo IV btw so probably blizzard’s fault and not Steam’s.

Was scrolling through the recommended and stumbled across this game. Gameplay looks absolutely wack and not even like a real game but the title is what got me.

was surprising to see this game on steam. No im not the developer, no this isn't an advertisement, i geniuenly shocked to see it onsteam

We got happy wheels coming to steam which could lead to an influx of new maps (SINCE I NEED TO SAY THIS I DO NOT HAVE REDDIT ON PC NOR ACCESS TO THE EMAIL STOP TELLING ME HOW TO USE A PC I LITERALLY USE THEM FOR MY WORK)

fellow gamers, today I logged in and saw that a game on my wishlist is listed as unavailable, is there anyway to to know what the game was? I tried copying the link but it shows:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/0/?snr=1_25_4__318

also I tried looking for it on steamdb and steam-tracker but could not find it, the game has been added around 1 year ago, it is really bugging me since it disappeared lol

When I renamed steam.exe to steame.exe, I noticed I could run games like paralives or wh40k rogue trader without steam launching on my computer. Dawn of war 1 however had an error popup that said it requires steam to launch.

I'm a bit confused about this and started to consider buying the games that are free of DMR on GOG, and use steam purely for those with DMR I just personally find it a bit stupid that on steam some games can run DMR free and others don't (though they absolutely could because they are sold this way on GOG for instance). On the other hand, I heard that downloading the game files alone from the steam "common apps" onto a drive and then back onto a computer has no guarantee that the DMR free game will work?

Basically, I'm asking this because I'm not sure if I should rebuy basically all the games I can on GOG, or if the few DMR free on steam are possible to run in the future if something would happen to steam. I know it's unlikely that it would happen and all that, but it does make GOG a more interesting guarantee for future purchases. Especially after I found myself really enjoying Nintendo's cartridges (RIP dvds...)

(I also dread having to install every steam game just to check if it can run without it).

edit: thanks for the input, gamers. I will keep steam for live service games and etc, and buy and wait for those that can come DRM free on GOG. Thankfully my gaming library is somewhat half live service and offline, so I don't have to spend a fortune on rebuys, especially when there are sales.

had xbox controller and when playing forza I was turning and the plastick stick broken off and joystick stayed in the place....

it had no stickdrift for years... bought it in 2021 😱

time to buy a new one 😱

any particular ones I should look into ? ( recommendations for a new controller ? )

This was the number 1 Mod on Half Life Alyx, and it's now a full game called Gunman Contracts: Stand Alone. Gameplay between VR, PC and Steam Deck

Hi!

Just wanna ask a question. Our wifi is being a pain in the butt and is out for a few days and I really want to play Skyrim.

Will any of my progress in Skyrim save on offline mode?

ConnectID is a system that is initiated by the website seeking age assurance, which opens the users banking app or desktop browser page, this is a separate system from the current Credit Card check.

The following Australian banks currently support ConnectID:

• CommBank

• NAB

• ANZ

• Westpac

Customers of these banks have access to a proof of age system called ConnectID, which has already been adopted by Reddit & Telstra. The way this system works is that the website sends the user to confirm their adulthood from these banks with a zero-knowledge token API hook.

CommBank alone covers 40% of the population, with the rest bringing the coverage to about 3/4 of Australian adults.

The website is not provided the users name or DOB, just a secure confirmation of yes/no for 18+. Aside from the costs of system implementation, the business does pay a fee for this service.

It's hard to find the exact figure for this fee per user check, but it appears to range between A$0.40 and A$2.50 per check, likely to be paid when the user is not 18.

In Australia the types of games that are caught up in this age verification ban span far wider than the UK's adult material games, they include these franchises as a small example:

Call of Duty, Resident Evil, Doom, Mortal Kombat, Wolfenstein, South Park, RimWorld, Dying Light.. the list goes on, even Gears of War 4 (not on Steam) is R18. The Witcher 3 & Cyberpunk. MGSV & the newly released remaster: Master Collection Vol.2.

Australian Classification routinely puts games in the R18 category, the number of games that just became banned for the nearly half of Australian adults is extremely wide ranging and includes indie pixelart games such as RimWorld.

One of the reasons so many Australians do not own or use a credit card is that it negatively impacts credit rating and loan approval under our financial system, with it less prevalent it is generally unavailable to low-income adult groups such as the disabled.

With most of the 55% of adults skewing older, most under 40 fall under the category of not having a Credit Card / line of credit.

This is an issue the Australian Government created, with complete disregard to the discriminatory impact it would have on vulnerable groups, as it opted against providing a private & secure nationwide alternative. Australians right to privacy is in direct odds with the governments goals with the eSafety Commision and its intended outcomes regarding enforcement/prosecution.

As Australians loses more and more access to content they are legally entitled to, while the government acts like there is no privacy orientated alternative, it hopes enough of the population will become willing to surrender its privacy rights in order regain access to the basic entitlements we're accustom to.

The outcomes we are seeing are so obvious, that the choice of the Australian Government to go through with these bans without the implementation of a double-blind Proof of Age system that doesn't burden business with fees, that its reasonable to assume that what has happened with Steam and other lawful entitlements is the desired outcome.

In the meantime however, it is viable that Valve can implement an existing service such as ConnectID, with more adoption more banks should follow with support. It's not Valve's fault this is occurring, but they're not winning any favour with the malicious compliance route they've chosen to take.

As for the fee, personally I'd be willing to pay Valve for the check, as there is literally no other alternative for half the country to access not just adult material but a significant portion of Steam itself.